Who I Might Be
by revivingophelia
Summary: A new division... and someone new in charge. Set in August 2011, post SummerSlam. Eve/CM Punk, Lita/Randy Orton. Other characters include Triple H, John Cena, and Kelly Kelly.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Who I Might Be  
Author: Karen U  
Pairing/Character: Eve/CM Punk, Lita/Randy Orton; others possible  
Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me  
Rating: R  
Summary: another division... and someone new in charge  
Spoilers: August 2011, post SummerSlam. Adjusting Lita's age by a couple of years so she's only 3 years older than Randy. Ignoring any real life past or present relationships  
Warnings: language, adult situations, wrestling violence

Part One

She entered the office with her shoulders squared and her head held high, the former diva refusing to show just how nervous she was to be walking into this room. She'd never really gotten along with the man that was now in charge... Of course, she'd never really gotten along with his father-in-law, either. The fact that he had contacted her of all people for this was more than a little confusing for her, given their past, but she fought not to show her uncertainty. She took the seat that he gestured toward, a chair that was far more comfortable than it looked, and the man in charge frowned slightly as he sat on the corner of his desk.

"I have to admit, I thought you would hang up on me when I called you," Triple H said, his gaze on hers, and Lita offered him a shrug.

"Then I guess I have to admit that I sincerely thought about it," she replied, and he smiled slightly, as if pleased by her honesty. After a moment, he gave a slight nod, sighed, and spoke again.

"Fair enough. But the reality is... You didn't hang up. You actually heard me out. And here you are."

"And here I am. Though... I'm still not sure... Why me? For this? It's just a new division... Does anyone really need to be in charge of it?" she wanted to know.

"I'd like there to be. I want someone to keep this division going. Have you seen the tag team division lately? Until Bourne and Kingston teamed up... Hardly anyone ever challenged Otunga and McGillicutty. I swear, there are probably some guys out there that forgot we even had tag team titles before Bourne and Kingston went for them."

"Probably. But I'm not sure what that has to do with what you're asking of me."

"If things go well with the new division, I may put you in charge of the tag team division, too. I'm even open to there eventually being a divas tag team division. There's already a few teams that compete together regularly in terms of the divas. Probably more than there are in the tag team division that actually has a title to fight for." Triple H frowned slightly. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm not bringing you in for that... Yet. I'm bringing you in for the intergender tag team division."

"And once again... I have to ask... Why me? You could have asked anybody-"

"I wanted a name people recognize. People miss you. When Edge retired and Del Rio decided to be an ass and throw a fake party-"

"Yeah, I know. He got some overweight woman to come out to my music. Really classy-"

"My point was going to be the reaction that there was to your music. For the brief second that people thought you might really be there, the crowd went nuts. Putting a name like yours in charge of this division will immediately draw attention to the division itself. But that's only part of the reason I've asked you to return for this," he told her. "When I think of intergender or mixed tag matches, there are a few people that come to mind. You're the diva at the top of the list. Whether you were teamed up with the Hardys, Edge, or someone else... You fought in a lot of intergender matches. A few of them, you were the only woman. I also seem to remember a couple in which you teamed up with Trish to fight two men."

"That was Bischoff's idea."

"True enough. And I'm not asking for anything like that from this division. Each team will have one male competitor and one female. I'm going with intergender rules instead of mixed. It makes things more interesting."

"And potentially more dangerous," Lita replied.

"Well, this ain't ballet."

"I'm aware of that. Is JR aware that you're stealing his lines?" the former diva questioned, and Triple H quirked a smile.

"He'll just have to get over it. I plan to announce the division at the next show. After that, we'll have to put teams together-"

"And how is that going to be done? I've seen the shows lately... Not a lot of the divas have affiliations with any of the men. Vickie is the only woman managing right now, and she's not a competitor at all."

"I understand that. Given that the divas currently only have one possible title to fight for - the divas championship - I feel that most of the women, if not all of them, will have an interest in this division. I'm hoping that the attraction of a new title belt will get the men interested as well. Who doesn't want to be the first person to hold a title?" he questioned, then shrugged. "We'll have the people interested sign up, and partners will be chosen randomly, at least for the initial tournament for the crowning of the new champions. If partnerships don't work out after that, people could search for new partners. But for the initial tournament, everything's random... So everything's equal."

"For an ideal tournament, we would need eight teams."

"We would. But there are more than eight divas right now. We've got more than a dozen, actually. And if every diva enters... We could have pool play to start out. Each team has a few matches, the top eight make it to the tournament. They could even be seeded by how well they do - first through eighth. The first seed would face the eighth seed in the first round of the tournament, the second would face the seventh, and so on."

"You've put a lot of thought into this," Lita said, and Triple H shrugged.

"Sometimes I don't get a lot of sleep at night. Stephanie snores," he told her, surprising a laugh out of the woman.

"Somehow, I don't think your wife would appreciate you telling me that," the redhead stated, shaking her head, and Triple H smiled slightly before speaking again.

"So now you know the plan. Obviously you wouldn't have shown up for this meeting if you didn't have some interest in it. But what do you say? Are you in? Or do I need to find someone else to run the division before the next show?" he asked, and Lita took a deep breath before replying, not sure if she was making the right decision or not.

"I'm in."


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

The announcement had been made. Triple H had called out all the divas onto the stage to make the announcement for the intergender division, and he'd even had a video package made to play up the past in terms of intergender partnerships. Lita was fairly certain that she'd seen clips from several of her past matches, including one in which she'd teamed with Jeff Hardy, and another where she'd been teamed with the Rock - ironically, that match had been against Trish Stratus and Triple H himself. There had even been a shot of her with Chris Jericho after they'd won what Lita remembered to have actually been a mixed tag match. She supposed that the point of the video had been to both emphasize the past and remind people of how many times she'd competed in intergender matches... Although she was fairly certain that at least some of the footage of her in there had come from her interfering in matches rather than her competing in them. She'd seen several shots of herself doing a top-rope hurricanrana in there, and she couldn't help but be a bit amused by the fact that Triple H had chosen to use clips of her mostly taking down Christian.

"I noticed that you left out the ending of that match that Rock and I teamed up for. You know, the one where he and I beat you and Trish," Lita said with a slight smirk as she sat down on the couch in the office, and Triple H gave her a dirty look, undoubtedly very aware of how that match had ended. Lita had landed a moonsault - over halfway across the ring, actually - on Trish and gotten the pin, and while Triple H had been standing over his fallen partner in disbelief, Rock had come up behind him and hit him with a steel chair, causing Triple H to land on Trish in what could only be described as a 'compromising position'.

"That would not be PG," he told her, reminding her of the rating the company attempted to stick to these days... Mostly successfully.

"It was funny, though."

"Tell that to my wife," the Game muttered. "Everyone looked a little shocked to see you."

"Yeah, well, I doubt anyone ever thought I'd step foot in a WWE ring again... Of course, I did return at the 15th anniversary special, and the truth is... I'm not really stepping into the ring again, anyway. Not as a competitor. I just happened to be standing next to you in the ring when you made the announcement for the division." She paused, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure if my involvement will be a good thing or a bad thing."

"Why? Were you particularly mean to any of the current divas?" Triple H asked, and Lita snorted.

"Please. I'm pretty sure that the only girls on the current roster that were around before I retired were Beth, who broke her jaw or something not long after she showed up, and Kelly... And Kelly was still trying to take her clothes off on ECW back then. I never did more than say hello to her once or twice. Oh, and Layla may have won the diva search around that time, but... She's currently out with an injury. What happens when Layla comes back, by the way? I mean, if she wants to be in the division?"

"Well, odds are that she won't be back until after the initial tournament is over and we have our first champions. But when she comes back, she's welcome to join the division, and if she can't find a partner on her own, we can help her find one. Of course, that's if people sign up in the first place," he said, frowning slightly. It had been made clear that people could come to the office to put their name in for the division at any time during the night's episode of RAW... They could come during SmackDown as well, as long as they'd put their names in by next week, because the teams would be chosen then.

Lita shrugged. "Maybe no one wants to be the first to sign-up," she redhead said, then jerked slightly at the sound of a knock on the door. "Or maybe not."

"Come in!" Triple H called out, both he and Lita turning to see who it was that had decided to suck it up and be the first person to add their name to the list for the new division.

Eve Torres was the one that opened the door, the former two-time divas champion somehow managing to look both nervous and excited as she stepped inside. "Um... You said to come here to sign up for the intergender division?" she said questioningly, and Lita nodded.

"That's right. I take it you're signing up."

The younger woman nodded. "Definitely. Is there something I need to fill out, or...?"

"All you have to do is give us your name," Lita told her. "We'll keep a list of everyone that throws their name in the hat, so to speak. All the divas' names will be put in one tumbler, all the guys' names in another, and when it comes time, we'll pull one name from each tumbler to pick the teams."

Eve nodded. "Okay... Then I guess I'm signed up. Am I the first?"

"You are-"

"Then I guess that makes me the second," a new voice said, and they all looked over as Evan Bourne entered the room, his tag team partner with him. Lita lifted her brows at the men.

"Are both of you-"

"Just Evan, actually," Kofi said. "We didn't think it would be a great idea to have us both in the division, in case we had to compete against each other. Not good for our tag team, anyway. Evan won the coin toss."

"I'll add you to the list," Lita said, smiling slightly, glad to have the first guy to sign up... As well as the first diva.

Evan sent a look over at Eve. "Hey, you never know... We could end up as tag team partners," he said, and Eve smiled at him.

"That would be nice, actually."

"A two-time divas' champion wouldn't be a bad partner to have," Evan began to say, but if he was going to say anything else, he didn't get the chance, because another voice interrupted.

"Or you could always get the *current* divas champion as your partner, which would be even better," Kelly Kelly announced as she came into the room, even now carrying the title belt over her shoulder... Lita cutting a look over at Eve in time to see the annoyed look on the brunette diva's face just before the woman left the room. Oh, yeah, something was going on there... Given the comment, it had something to do with Kelly possibly getting an ego. But even so...

"I take it you're signing up?"

Kelly adjusted the title belt she held. "Of course. I'm going to be the first diva ever to hold two title belts at once," the blonde said confidently, and Lita looked down to hide the smirk that threatened at those words.

Somehow, she thought a few of the other divas just might have something to say about that one.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1

Part Three

"So... You plannin' on joining the new division?" John Cena asked, the man leaning back in his chair so that the front legs were no longer resting on the floor. Randy Orton looked over at him, the world heavyweight champion looking like he was momentarily contemplating kicking the chair out from beneath John just for fun, but he apparently decided that would cause more trouble than it was worth, instead turning back to his own gear.

"I don't think so."

"Why? You think you're too good to team with a woman?" another voice broke in, Cena and Orton turning to find CM Punk standing there. Cena seemed mostly unbothered by the other man's uninvited presence, but Randy still glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, I work here. And I'm here to cause trouble," Punk said, then turned to Cena, a look of faux concern on his face. "Does he really not remember those things? Maybe the voices in his head are causing more problems than anyone thought."

"You're a pain in the ass, Punk."

"And the fact that it took you so long to figure that out just worries me even more. You didn't answer my question. You think you're too good to team with a diva or something?" the tattooed man wanted to know, and Cena snorted, the former WWE champion the one that answered for Orton.

"Well, the diva he would want to team with isn't exactly going to be in the division," the man said, ignoring the warning look that Orton was giving him. "She's going to be running it."

"Shut up, Cena."

The older man snorted. "Oh, please. When have I ever paid attention when someone tells me to shut up?" John wanted to know. He shrugged before looking over at Punk. "He probably thinks it would be a bad idea to be a part of the division if he plans to spend most of his time trying to get the woman running the division to date him."

Orton sneered, though when he spoke, it wasn't to comment on Cena's words. "What about you, John? You going to sign up?"

Cena shrugged, the man seeming to try to appear nonchalant, but not being all that successful at it. "Well, I heard Alberto Del Rio going on about how it's his destiny to hold two titles at once, and since I can't picture him having the balls to go after Orton's title anytime soon, I'm guessing that he was talking about signing up for the new division. And since it's my destiny to make life as miserable for him as possible, then yeah. I think I'm going to sign up."

This time, it was Orton's turn to snort in disbelief. "Oh, please. Are you going to tell me that you don't have a diva in mind that you want to team up with?" the world heavyweight champion questioned with a smirk, ignoring the annoyed look on Cena's face at his words. For his part, CM Punk actually looked interested in this bit of information. Possibly to torture Cena with it, but only Punk knew the reason for his interest for sure.

"Oh, wait, let me guess. You seem the type to like the perky blonde cheerleaders. Oh... Do you want to team with Kelly Kelly?" the Chicago native said in a bit of a sing-song voice. "I can picture the two of you as a couple. The Fruity Pebble, and the Barbie Doll. It would be a match made in heaven... Or, you know, my version of hell, but whatever."

"You really are an ass, Punk."

"I thought we already went over that. Just about a minute or so ago, actually. Yes, I'm an ass. Also, a pain in the ass. But seriously... Is that who you dream of teaming up with at night? Kelly Kelly? The girl so blonde that if her first name wasn't the same as her last name, she'd probably forget it?" Punk wanted to know, and Orton actually let out a laugh at that.

"Dude, that's mean. Possibly accurate, but mean," Randy said when he'd managed to stop laughing, and Cena shook his head.

"She's not so bad-"

"Oh, no. We're hurting Cena's feelings by insulting his diva of choice," Punk said, and John rolled his eyes.

"I never said she's the one I want to team up with. But the thing is... If we sign up for this division, we get who we get. We could end up with Tamina... or Alicia Fox... or Kelly... or Eve Torres," the older man said, and maybe it was something about the way he said the last name, but Punk immediately perked up when he heard it.

"Eve Torres, huh? That's the dream girl?"

"I never said-"

"Didn't have to." Punk shrugged. "Can't deny you have decent taste. At least in this case. The girl is gorgeous. And actually has a brain in her head which, unfortunately, probably hurts your chances with her. Just so you know."

Cena glared at him. "You know... You just came in here unannounced and uninvited, and me and Orton have been nice enough to put up with you just waltzing into our locker room-"

"I didn't waltz. I walked. Although I might try waltzing next time. You know, just to see if anyone notices," Punk interrupted, smirking when Cena glared at him. Shoving his hands in his pockets, the straight edge superstar shook his head as he looked at John. "You really are too easy, you know? Really... It's so damn easy to get under your skin. You must really like this girl."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A snort. "Yeah, whatever. Say it with conviction next time, and I might actually believe you," he said with a shrug. "And in case you're curious, I did actually have a reason for coming in here. Besides just, you know, annoying the shit out of the two of you, which was really just a side benefit of it."

Orton arched a brow as he looked over at the other man. "You going to enlighten us as to the real reason you came in here, or are you just going to keep being an asshole?"

"I can't do both?" Punk questioned, then smirked when earned a glare from both Orton and Cena. "Like I said: Too damn easy. Anyway... There's an eight-man tag tonight. The three of us and Sheamus against Del Rio, Christian, Miz, and R-Truth. Just thought you'd want to know," he said, then shrugged his shoulders and turned to head out the door.

"Got other people to annoy?" Orton wanted to know, and Punk looked back, shrugging again.

"Probably. But I got other things to do, too. Like signing up for that new division."

"Wait, what?" Cena sputtered, and Punk grinned.

"Hell, yeah. Let's see which one of us wins this time."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1

Part Four

Lita tapped her pen against the list in front of her, arching a brow as she looked down at it. A surprising number of guys had put their names in for the tournament... More men than women actually, at the moment. She'd been more than a little surprised when CM Punk had stepped in and declared that he wanted to be in the division, and only a couple of minutes after that, John Cena had come in and signed up as well. And those two had shown up *after* Alberto Del Rio had stopped by with his obnoxious announcer in tow and stated that it was his destiny to be a double title holder. Personally, Lita thought it would be kind of funny if Alberto and Kelly somehow ended up teamed up and then didn't make it to the regular tournament or something. Of course, teams were going to be random, so there was no way of making sure that the two would be teamed up. Triple H was trusting her with this division; there was no way she was going to screw things up by rigging the teams or anything so stupid as that.

Shaking her head, the former diva looked back up at the two women standing in front of her. "You can't sign up as a tag team."

"And just why not?" Beth Phoenix wanted to know, the blonde woman sneering at her. Lita rolled her eyes.

"Because as Triple H stated, each team in this division must be made up of one male and one female. So, unless one of you has something you've been hiding from us all for years... You don't really fit into that category," the redhead said, ignoring the way Triple H smirked at that, watching as Beth and Natalya both narrowed their eyes at her. Beth was the one to speak.

"Listen here, you little-"

"You don't intimidate me," Lita said, cutting her off, the redhead standing up and slamming her hands down on her desk, looking Beth directly in the eyes as she spoke. "You're the Glamazon. I get that. The Divas of Doom. Big fucking deal. I really don't care. I'm not afraid of you. I have been thrown off a stage by the Undertaker. I've been gored by Rhyno. I've been hit with a steel chair by Stone Cold Steve Austin. I've gone through tables. I did a guest spot on a stupid television show and was dropped on my head. I walked around with a broken neck for over two weeks before they even diagnosed it, then I had surgery, sat on the shelf for a year and a half, and worked my ass off to come back. Anything you think you're going to dish out? I can take it. Got it?"

Beth made a move as if to come toward her, but Natalya nudged her back, the Canadian diva eyeing Lita for a moment, clearly not happy, but also clearly not about to get physical. Lita found herself wanting to say something about Natalya being the brains of the duo, but she held it in. She was, after all, the head of a new division. She wasn't a diva anymore, not a competitor. That meant that she needed to try to be the one to take the high road. Even if it wasn't as much fun.

"I still want in the division," Natalya said. "Team me up with a guy; I don't care who."

"It will be done randomly for everyone. Triple H and I will be picking the names out of the tumblers, and Teddy Long will be there to verify that no switches were made," Lita told her, and Natalya nodded, gesturing to the list Lita was making.

"Fine. Add me to your list," Natalya said, then shrugged when Beth gave her an incredulous look. "It's a new division. A chance at a new title. I want in. If you don't, so be it. But I'm joining up."

Beth heaved out a sigh, then looked at Lita, a sneer still evident on the Glamazon's face. "Fine. Add my name, too."

"You're both added to the list. Tag teams will be announced next week. Live, on RAW," Lita said, eyeing both women and they nodded before turning and leaving, Lita sitting back down in her chair and shaking her head as they did so. Rolling her eyes, she looked over at Triple H. "That went well."

"Actually, it did. You got women for two more teams out of it. And, you didn't let them intimidate you. Not that I expected you to," he said, then shrugged. "You know, when you were going through that list of stuff you've been through, you forgot something."

"What's that?"

"You didn't list that I've done my finisher on you," he said, and Lita shrugged.

"Didn't feel appropriate at the time," the redhead stated, and he nodded slightly.

"Well, I would say I'm sorry, but... At the time, I really wasn't."

"Well, you were a dick."

"Pretty much," he said, shaking his head a little, then looking over at the door as two other divas made their way into the room.

"Are you joining the division?" Lita wanted to know, her gaze sliding from one Bella twin to the other. She wasn't entirely sure which one was which... Oh, wait. There were hints of a tattoo showing from the front of one of the girls' low-waisted jeans. She was pretty sure she'd heard that the one with the tattoo was Brie.

The one Lita thought was Brie gestured to her sister. "Well, I'm not. Just Nikki is," she said, confirming that Lita was right about which twin was which. Eyeing them, Lita caught them exchanging a slight smirk.

"Oh, really? Just one of you is joining. Well, that's too bad. Although I do think that it's important for me to list a few ground rules. Now, I'm not in charge of any division but this one, so I can only make the terms for the intergender division matches, but... Here's the deal. If only one of you is in the division, then I'm going to make sure that only one of you competes."

Brie had the gall to look offended. "We would never-"

"Yeah, and I'm going to have to call bullshit on that one. I'm not stupid. You switch places. You've even been caught switching places by the referees. And here's the deal... One of you signs up, fine. But the other one is most certainly not going to be at ringside wearing the same damn wrestling gear as the one that's supposed to be wrestling. It would have to be street clothes for twin number two. No chance of a switch. And, if you don't decide to walk out with your sister, then there would be a check under the ring to make sure that no one was hiding under there to make a switch. Better yet, if one of you signs up for the division, then the other one must be in my office during her sister's matches."

"You can't do that!" Brie sputtered, and Lita shrugged her shoulders.

"I can. But I'm not enough of a glutton for punishment to put myself through that, so we'll go with the street clothes and checking under the ring things. I'm not letting you pull the same shit that you've been pulling ever since you showed up. Not in my division," the former diva informed them, then gave them a smile that she knew had more than a little bit of a 'so there' smirk to it. "So... Anyone still want to enter?" she asked, and the Bellas looked at each other for a moment, seemingly communicating without speaking, then heaved a sigh and looked at her, speaking simultaneously.

"Sign us both up."

"Will do. Now, that means the street clothes ruling when it's not your match goes for both of you," Lita informed them. "And if you both have a match the same night, no matching ring gear, and we'll be checking under the ring to make sure no one's hiding."

"Whatever."

"Okay... You're on the list. Now get out of my office. Oh, and ladies?" she said, smiling as they looked back at her. "Have a nice day."


	5. Chapter 5

disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Five

He looked over at the woman that he'd chosen to be in charge of the new division, a frown on his face as he watched her going over the lists in her hands. "What's it look like?" he questioned, though he had a pretty good idea. He'd been in the office with her for much of the evening, and he knew that on top of the divas and superstars that had come into the office tonight, several phone calls had come in as well from people that hadn't been required to be on the show.

"Every single diva that is considered an active competitor has signed up," Lita replied, the former diva comparing the list of names she had to the active roster he'd given her a copy of earlier in the day. "Every single one. The only women I haven't heard from are Aksana and Vickie, and neither of them are considered competitors as of yet." She looked up at Triple H. "I've got twelve names on this list, and there was also a call from Layla, asking if she would be able to enter the division once she returns. I told her she would, but that it would probably have to be after the initial tournament."

"What did she say to that?"

"She was fine with it. She said she won't be able to be back for several more months anyway, and she just wanted to make sure she'd have the option to join once she came back. Apparently, she's much nicer and far less annoying now that she's on her own and no longer teaming with Michelle McCool," the redhead stated. "We have more guys that put their names in than women. Of course, the male roster is several times larger than the female one, but... Not all the guys are going to be able to be in the division."

"We knew that could happen. And I'm actually glad it did," Triple H told her. When she arched a brow at him for that statement, he shrugged. "Well, it shows that there's interest in the division. Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure how some of the guys would feel about teaming up with the divas."

"You thought they would consider it to be beneath them," Lita surmised, and he gave a slight nod, lifting a hand to ward off any statements she might make when he saw the annoyance in her eyes.

"Hey... I'm just telling it like it is... Or like I was worried it would be. Times have changed in the WWE, and not always for the better. There's not a lot of mixed or intergender tag matches going on anymore, and I wasn't sure how the guys would react to them being brought back. I mean, the idea of teaming up with Kelly Kelly or Rosa Mendes is a little different than it was back in the day when the guys would find themselves teaming up with you or Trish."

"Trish wasn't always considered the terrific partner to get, you know. In fact, I seem to recall a certain person in this room that wasn't so happy about teaming up with her once upon a time. Although, to be honest, I'd have to admit there was a time when neither of us wanted to team up with her but had to." She rolled her eyes when he gave her a questioning look. "InVasion, way back when. It was, like, ten years ago now. I think you were out with an injury during most of that time."

"I have vague recollections of that," Triple H replied, a slight smirk touching his lips. He shook his head. "Anyway... I'm just glad the division got the response it did. Honestly, I think some of the ladies will work really well with the guys. And to be honest, before Edge retired, he had to team up with Kelly a couple of times, and she did better than I expected. Maybe it will bring out the best in everybody that signed up."

"Maybe. Or, for some of them, the worst," Lita said with a slight shake of her head, but before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, though the person on the other side didn't wait for an answer before he swung it open. Lita blinked in surprise when she saw who was standing there.

Randy Orton.

Triple H arched a brow as he looked at the younger man. "Can we help you?"

"Not here to cause trouble. I just... Came to say hello," the man known as the Viper said, his gaze trained on Lita instead of looking at the man that had spoken to him. The Game gave a slight smirk at that, then rose from his seat.

"Well... Since I'm fairly certain you're not here to say hello to me... I'm just going to go and call my wife."

"You go and do that," Randy said, waiting for Triple H to leave the room and close the door before he spoke once more. "You know, when Triple H introduced you tonight, I nearly fell off my chair in shock."

Lita gave a slight smile. "Well, I'm sorry I missed that, then," she told him, and he rolled his eyes before stepping further into the room. The show was over now, had been over long enough that the competitors had been able to shower and change after their matches, so instead of standing there in his wrestling gear, Randy was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She had to admit that he looked good. Better than good, really. Of course, she'd pretty much always thought he looked good, even back when he was a part of Evolution and she'd hated his guts.

He shook his head slightly as he moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of the desk she was at. "You know, it would have been nice to be told you were coming back," he said quietly, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Technically, I'm not back. I mean, I'm not a competitor. I'm kind of like a suit this time around," she said, then glanced down at her outfit, which was a lot more 'casual' than it was 'business'. "Not that I'd ever actually wear a suit. That was one of the things Triple H had to agree to before I would take the job. I get to dress how I want to. Dressing up is okay on occasion, but it's really not my thing."

"I bet you would look amazing in a dress," Orton replied, and she rolled her eyes.

"Since I'm guessing that you aren't here to put your name in for the division... You going to tell me why you are here?" she wanted to know, and he shrugged.

"I would think that would be obvious. If I'm not here to join the division - which I'm not, though I think it's a great idea - and I obviously didn't come here to talk to Triple H... I wonder why else I would have come in here? Who else could I have been coming to see? Besides you, that is?" he said, his gaze finding hers, blue eyes focused on hazel. Lita swallowed hard.

"Randy-"

"I understood why you left. I understood a year later when you told me you were only visiting when you appeared on the fifteenth anniversary special. But you're back now, Lita," he told her, giving her a slight smile as he stood up again, heading for the door. "And since you're back, I thought it would only be fair to let you know. No matter what's happened between then and now... I never quite gave up on you. Not really. So the question is... Are you finally ready to give us a chance?"

He left before she had a chance to give her answer. She really wasn't sure if she had one.


	6. Chapter 6

disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Six

For her, at least, the week passed quickly.

By the end of SmackDown, sign-ups for the division were officially closed, and it wasn't until the weekend live events that Triple H, Lita, and Theodore Long had gotten together to put together the names for the teams in the division, using two tumblers that were much like what the superstars pulled their numbers from to find out the order of entry for the Royal Rumble. The tumbler with the divas' names wasn't as full as the one with the superstars names was because, while every active female wrestler on the roster had signed up, there had still been more men that had been interested in the division. The men had all been warned that there was no guarantee they'd get a partner given the interest that had been expressed, though they had also been told that if any of the tag teams didn't work out, then changes could be made after the initial tournament was over.

And now, the tag teams were made. Or, at least, the names had been chosen for each tag team, though the competitors hadn't been told of their fates just yet. That would happen live on RAW. Of course, RAW was about to start, which meant that the announcements would be made in a matter of minutes: the naming of the teams was going to be the first segment on the show.

Lita looked up as the door to the office opened, the former diva feeling a bit like she was holding her breath as she waited to see who it was... But it wasn't Randy Orton that walked through the door. She told herself that was a good thing, since she still hadn't decided what her answer would be to the words he'd left her with on Monday night. He hadn't tried to talk to her since then, though she'd felt his gaze on her more than once over the weekend at both SmackDown and the live events. Despite feeling his gaze far too often, he'd never approached her, perhaps because she'd almost constantly found herself surrounded by people trying to get hints as to who their partner would be in the intergender division... Or, in the case of the men, whether they would have a chance to be in the initial division at all. Dolph Ziggler had actually chosen to remove himself from the list of potential competitors, though Lita wasn't sure if that was because of the lack of guarantee he would get to compete, or if it was because Vickie Guerrero had thrown a fit about him considering taking part in the first place. Whatever the case, it didn't really matter, since Ziggler's name hadn't actually been among the names of the superstars that had been chosen for the division.

"You planning on joining me in the real world at some point in the near future?"

Lita jerked at the sound of the voice, looking over to find Triple H standing there, the man smiling slightly as he looked at her... Lita rolling her eyes as she realized that she had been completely zoned out. "Sorry. I was just... thinking."

"I'm sure you were." The big man shook his head a bit, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him. "I've made sure that all the men whose names were drawn to be in the division have been notified to be out there for the announcement of the teams. All the divas know to be out there as well." He paused, then rolled his eyes. "Kelly Kelly tried to get me to tell me who her partner is going to be. I told her it would be announced at the start of the show, and she seemed to think that because she's divas' champion or something that she should get to find out the name of her partner before any of the other divas find out who they're teamed with."

Lita shook her head. "Why do I get the feeling that girl is going to be a big problem?"

"Because she probably is... Hey, maybe I should put you in charge of the divas' division so I don't have to pay attention to her at all," Triple H said, then shrugged when Lita gave him a look. "Seriously, though... It wouldn't be a bad idea for a woman to be in charge of the division, and as a former four-time women's champion, well... They can't act like you don't know what it takes to be a champ."

"Yeah, but they can say I don't know what it takes to run a division. Which could actually be said about what I'm doing now as well."

He smiled slightly. "You nervous?"

"More than I thought I would be. Although at least part of that may be due to some of the names that ended up in the division. There are some guys that signed up that I never would have expected. It's almost unfortunate that we don't have more divas when some of the guys that have been left out of the division just by the luck of the draw are considered. But then again... We're starting off with twelve teams, and that's a pretty good amount for an actual division."

"Can't guarantee that all of them will stay together past the crowning of the first champions, though," Triple H said, the man smirking slightly, and Lita knew that he was thinking of a couple of the more interesting teams that had ended up. The truth was, there was one team that she wouldn't have believed was random if she hadn't been there when the teams were chosen. But Triple H had drawn the diva's name, she'd drawn the superstar's name, and Theodore Long had declared that no funny business had happened when the names were drawn.

"You know, after last week when I refused to be intimidated, she already hates me. She's going to hate me even more after tonight," Lita said, then shrugged. "Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to live with that."

"I'm sure your heart is breaking," Triple H said, then shook his head. "Some of the girls looked nervous."

"Can you blame them? Think of some of the guys that put their names into the division. Not all of them are nice. Of course, not all of the women in the division are all that nice, either, so... Some of the guys have the right to be worried as well," Lita said, then heaved out a sigh, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was barely five minutes until the show was supposed to air live. Odds were that most of the people that would have to be at ringside when the team announcements were made were already congregating near the curtains that led to the stage. Shaking her head slightly, the diva rose to her feet. "I guess it's time to get out there."

"Guess so. You ready?" he asked, and she gave a slight shrug.

"As I'll ever be. Come on. Let's get this show on the road."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer, etc., in the first part. Thanks to all that have reviewed so far.

_Author's Note - just a quick reminder... This fic starts around August of 2011, which means that Ted DiBiase has recently turned face, Daniel Bryan is still a face, and AJ hasn't been around long and is still the perky and not unhinged._

Part Seven

She made her way through the curtains out onto the stage, her gaze immediately going to the ring, where all the divas and superstars that were going to be a part of the intergender division currently stood. The women were on one side of the ring, the men on the other, and the way they were separated from each other - as well as they way they kept giving each other speculative glances - reminded Lita more than a little of the beginning of a junior high dance. That thought almost brought a smile to her face, but she held it in, the former diva instead waiting at the top of the stage as her music switched to that of Triple H, the currently acting COO of the WWE coming out to join her before the two of them began to make their way down the ramp to the ring. As they made their entrances into the ring, Lita was a little surprised when one of the men - Justin Gabriel, actually - stepped forward to hold open the ring ropes for her, but the redhead tried to cover her surprise, instead giving a slight nod to the man as she ducked beneath the second rope and stepped inside the ring. As she glanced at everyone in the ring, she found herself fiddling with the clipboard she had in her hands... A clipboard that listed all of the teams for the new division. Of course, she didn't really need it anymore; she'd basically memorized the teams already, and she couldn't help wondering how some of the teams would get along as she looked around the ring at the various competitors.

The former diva remained silent as Triple H made his opening spiel, then nodded slightly as he introduced her and handed the microphone in his hand to her, effectively turning the proceedings over to her. After all, while he was in charge of the company, he'd put her in charge of the division.

"Okay... As you may have noticed... We have enough people in this ring for twelve teams. An ideal tournament would have eight teams. Here's how it's going to work. Starting next Monday, matches in the division will begin being scheduled. After each team has had several matches, the teams with the top records will be in the tournament to determine the first-ever intergender tag team champions. I know all of this has been told to those of you in the division, but I just wanted to reiterate that. Now, the division will be competed on both brands - RAW and SmackDown. If you're expected to appear on a show that you normally wouldn't be, we'll make sure you have enough notice to prepare to be there. The teams were randomly chosen, and to be honest, because of that, some of you may end up with partners that aren't on the same brand that you're on. Since this is a cross-branded belt, that really shouldn't matter. Once I announce your team, you can leave the ring, because face it... It's pretty crowded in here. Now... As I'm sure what all of you really want to know is who you're going to be teamed up with... Let's get on with it."

Taking a deep breath, Lita lifted the clipboard in her hand, glancing around at the wrestlers - all of whom were just as attentive as the curious audience - the redhead pressing her lips together briefly before beginning to announce the teams. "The first team in the intergender division is Tamina... and her tag team partner, David Otunga," she declared, glancing at each one in turn as their names were called, the redhead unable to tell exactly how Tamina felt about her new partner. As for Otunga, he just looked as arrogant as he usually did. The diva slowly approached the center of the ring, Otunga doing the same, the pair seemingly merely sizing one another up before they exited the ring... Otunga looked like he was considering holding the ring ropes for her, but he apparently thought better of it after a glare from Tamina.

Lita fought back a smile, sharing a look with Triple H before she turned her attention back to her clipboard. "The second team in the intergender division... Ted DiBiase, and his partner... AJ," the redhead said, watching as AJ stepped forward with a nervous look on her face; clearly, the new diva wasn't quite sure of Ted. For his part, Ted nodded slightly, looking a little relieved, which Lita figured was due to the fact that he hadn't been stuck with his ex-girlfriend as a partner. As they met in the center of the ring, Ted held out his hand, and AJ shook it, the rookie diva smiling a bit hesitantly before she and Ted left the ring... Ted even helping her down from the ring apron before they took up a position on the outside of the ring, apparently wanting to stick around for a front row seat as the other teams were announced. Otunga and Tamina, however, had already left the ringside area.

"And next... Alicia Fox and Daniel Bryan," Lita continued. Alicia and Daniel met in the center of the ring like the other teams had. Alicia looked less nervous than AJ had, the diva holding out her hand to shake, Daniel Bryan quickly reciprocating the gesture, the two of them nodding at one another before they left the ring, though they remained at ringside like Ted and AJ had... Lita pausing for a moment before continuing her announcement of the teams. "The fourth in the division... Nikki Bella... and the Miz," she said, watching as Nikki smirked, the dark-haired woman clearly happy with her choice. The Miz had, after all, been the WWE champion for awhile. Of course, that was mostly because he'd had a Money in the Bank briefcase to cash in and a lackey to follow him around in Alex Riley. Now? He had neither of those things, and things hadn't been going quite as well for him since he'd lost the title and Alex Riley had gotten fed up with him.

"Wouldn't want to deal with those two egos," Triple H muttered, the big man leaning in close to her, and Lita fought against a smile at his words, the redhead watching as the newly announced tag team made their way to the outside, looking for all the world like they already thought they had this one in the bag. Maybe the Miz didn't realize that he really only had Nikki as a partner... Maybe he thought that Brie would be out there to trade places with Nikki and help them cheat. Whatever the case, Lita kind of thought they looked a bit overconfident considering some of the people still left in the ring.

"And moving on... The next team in the division... is Beth Phoenix.. and Santino Marella," Lita said, watching the outrage that was currently taking over the Glamazon's face.

"What?"


	8. Chapter 8

Dislcaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks to those that have reviewed so far.

Part Eight

It was very hard not to smile at the anger that was evident on Beth Phoenix's face... The fear on Santino's face was a bit amusing as well, though it was actually easy to feel sorry for the man as well. Lita, for her part, showed no fear as Beth turned to her.

"You've got to be kidding me. This is fixed-"

"No, it's not," Lita said before Triple H could come to her defense. This was her division; she needed to be in control. "The papers containing the names were all the same size, folded the same way, with the names on them completely concealed. The names were mixed up by Theodore Long between the choosing of each and every team. Triple H pulled out the name of the diva on each team, and I pulled out the name of the superstar. Theodore Long was present during the entire proceeding, and he declared that it was done fairly. And to be quite honest? You're not important enough to me to have done this on purpose. I would not jeopardize the integrity of this division just because you tried to intimidate me last week. Now, you have two options... Accept your assignment for a tag team partner for now, or remove yourself from the division until after the tournament is over, at which time you would be able to attempt to find a new partner."

Beth glared at her for a long moment, obviously looking for a sign of weakness that Lita refused to give. Finally, the blonde woman nodded. "Fine. I'm in the division." She turned to look at her new tag team partner, and Lita couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. "Come on, Santino," Beth said imperiously as she left the ring, the man following behind her, and Lita shook her head slightly before returning to her list.

"And moving on... Our next tag team is Rosa Mendes and Alberto Del Rio," Lita continued, watching the smug look that appeared on Rosa's lips at that announcement. Del Rio looked slightly annoyed, which made Lita think the man had probably taken a look at the won-loss records of some of the divas, but he quickly covered it, pasting a smile on his face that Lita thought looked more slimy than anything else, the man bending low over Rosa's hand and kissing the back of it, saying something to her in Spanish before they exited the ring. Like Beth and Santino, they didn't stick around to see the other tag teams. In fact, of the six teams that had been announced so far, only two of them - AJ and Ted and Alicia and Daniel - had stuck around to see the other teams get announced.

Aware that she'd reached the halfway point of the announcements, the redhead glanced around at those remaining in the ring, noting that the divas seemed to have grouped closer together as their numbers dwindled, while the men remained fairly spread out on their side of the ring. Also, if she wasn't mistaken, John Cena seemed to be staring at either Kelly or Eve - it was hard to tell which since the divas were standing together - and oddly enough, CM Punk was going back and forth between smirking in Cena's direction and looking at those two divas as well. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was something to it.

Shaking her head, Lita lifted her clipboard again. "The next team is... Justin Gabriel and Kaitlyn," she said, glancing at the former NXT competitors as they approached the center of the ring. Justin, for his part, offered Kaitlyn a smile, saying something that Lita didn't really catch beyond the word 'partner', and Kaitlyn smiled back at him, the two of them leaving the ring and taking up a position outside of it next to Ted and AJ... Not surprising, really, since AJ and Kaitlyn were supposed to be close friends.

"Evan Bourne... and Natalya," Lita intoned, naming the next tag team, and she couldn't help but look over to see if Natalya would have the same nasty reaction that her partner in the Divas of Doom had. Of course, Beth had a past with Santino. As best as Lita knew, Natalya had no such past with Evan. It was just that, quite simply, Evan Bourne was the smallest guy in the division. Of course, he was also one half of the current tag team champions, so that at least meant he knew how to be part of a partnership.

Natalya eyed the man for a moment from across the ring, then stepped forward, Evan doing the same from his side, the man holding out his hand... The blonde woman continuing to eye her new partner for several seconds before she reached out a hand as well, the two shaking hands before exiting the ring. Unlike her Divas of Doom partner, Natalya seemed prepared to stay at ringside for the rest of the announcement, Evan at her side.

There were now only four teams left to announce, only eight people in the ring, and Lita glanced at each side of the ring before announcing the next team. "Brie Bella and John Morrison," the redhead stated, watching with a bit of amusement as it seemed to register with Brie that the man she was teaming up with had once been partners with the man Nikki was teamed with... And that the two men now hated each other. Even so, Brie stepped forward to shake hands with Morrison, the woman seeming a bit less arrogant than her sister had just minutes before when she and the Miz had been announced as partners.

"Only three teams left," Lita said as Brie and Morrison left the ring, the woman knowing her statement was a bit unnecessary. After all, there were only six people left in the ring besides her and Triple H. "And the next team... is Maryse and Alex Riley," the redhead stated, watching as the two met in the center of the ring like all the other teams before them, Maryse saying something that she didn't quite catch... And Alex gave her a smirk.

"I speak French," he told the blonde woman, making Lita realize why it was that she hadn't caught what Maryse had said, and the look that came to the blonde's face at that made Lita think that, whatever Maryse had said, she hadn't really wanted Alex to know what it meant.

As the two left the ring, Lita returned her attention to those still inside the ring, noting once again how it seemed that Cena was having trouble taking his eyes off of one of the women, though it was hard to say which one given how close Kelly and Eve were standing. Her gaze flicking around among the four people left, Lita took a deep breath before announcing the next team. "Eve Torres... and CM Punk," she said in a clear voice, watching as something almost like disappointment crossed Cena's face, but it was just as quickly gone... CM Punk smiling as he stepped forward, offering a hand to Eve. Despite looking a little nervous about teaming with Punk, Eve held out her hand as well, looking a bit surprised when the man did as Del Rio had done earlier and, instead of shaking Eve's hand, he bent and kissed the back of it. The glance he shot Cena's way as he did so made Lita think that, not only had Cena really wanted to team with Eve, but Punk had known about it.

Eve and CM Punk exited the ring together, Punk once again offering Eve his hand to help her as she went to hop down from the ring apron, the two of them dropping each other's hands as they started to make their way up the ramp. After all, there wasn't any need to stick around; the last team was obvious. Even so, Lita lifted the microphone to her lips one more time.

"And clearly, our final team is Kelly and John Cena," the redhead declared, watching as a smiling Kelly went over to stand next to John, Cena smiling as well...

"I'm so glad we're partners," Kelly practically squealed, and John nodded his head.

"Yeah. Me, too," he replied, and while Kelly obviously didn't hear the lack of enthusiasm in his voice, Lita definitely did.

Oh, yeah. This new division was definitely going to be very interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Nine

Triple H shook his head slightly as he and Lita walked through the hallway in the back, heading for the office once more. "Well, that went well."

"Hey, it could have been a lot worse. Beth's the only one that threw a fit about who her partner is. I have to say that I think Maryse was more than a little surprised to find out that Alex Riley speaks French. Guess she won't be able to insult him without him knowing it," Lita said as she jerked a hand through her hair, a slight frown on her face. She debated, momentarily, over whether or not to bring this next bit up to Triple H, then decided to go for it. "Now, don't say anything about this, but... I think Cena really wanted to team with Eve."

"Well, she and Kelly were the last divas in the ring. I don't care that Kelly is the current divas' champ; if I had a choice between the two, I'd pick Eve as a partner, too. She's solid enough that she's held the divas' title twice, she doesn't look like a gust of wind could blow her over, and she doesn't constantly scream during her matches."

Lita arched a brow, smiling slightly. "Wow, you've really thought about this," she said, then shook her head. "And it wasn't just because Eve and Kelly were the last two and he didn't want to team with Kelly or something. Most of the time I was announcing teams, he was watching someone. At the time I couldn't tell who it was - Kelly or Eve - but given the look on his face when I announced Eve and CM Punk as a team... I'm thinking he had his eye on Eve."

Triple H smirked. "Well, that will certainly make things interesting. Especially if someone were to tell Kelly that he didn't want to be her partner- Hey!" He rubbed his chest where Lita had just smacked him. "That wasn't nice."

"What you said wasn't nice, either. We are not going to go around trying to stir up shit in the division. I'm sure there will be enough of that without the help of the COO," the former diva informed him. "I mean, think about some of those teams... The Bellas are teamed up with the Miz and Morrison, respectively. Those two guys hate each other. Yeah, they were a tag team and all of that way back when, but since they stopped teaming together? They just don't like each other."

"And then there's the fact that Beth Phoenix has to work with her ex-boyfriend," the Game said, and there was something gleeful in his expression that made Lita think he was entirely too amused by that.

"Don't look so happy when you say it. People will think you rigged it or something," the redhead said, then sent the man a speculative look. She hadn't noticed anything when they'd been drawing the names for the teams, but still... "You didn't, did you?"

"No. Geez. I just think it's funny. Almost feel sorry for Santino. Although... He actually made the decision to date her once upon a time, which makes me feel less sorry for him. I mean, he may be forced to team up with her now, but it was his decision to actually date her. And you handled that really well, by the way. When Beth got all pissed off out there."

"She's probably going to attack me at some point," Lita said on a sigh, the former diva almost resigning herself to the fact that this gig was going to come with its own share of problems, an angry Glamazon only being one of them.

"You're not a wrestler, you're in charge of division."

"Yeah, so? That's only going to stop her for so long."

"Then suspend her," Triple H replied with a shrug. He smiled slightly at the incredulous look that Lita gave him for that. "I'm not saying to suspend her now. But if she goes after you... You're an official now. You're in charge of the intergender division. Anyone attacks you, then suspension would be a viable option there."

"I guess. It just seems really strange to me. I'm not used to being in charge of anything."

"You wouldn't know it from the way you've been handling yourself out there... and backstage with everyone in the division. You've done really well."

"Okay, now I might pass out. Triple H just gave me a compliment."

"Very cute."

"Not really." The diva shook her head. "I'm not sure how some of those teams are going to do..."

"Well, the only other option was to make everyone find partners on their own, and that would have been a mess. And I think the random teams put together some tag teams that have some potential. I mean, look at Ted DiBiase. If left to his own devices to find a partner, I don't figure he would have ended up with AJ. I think those two could make an interesting team. He didn't seem bothered at all to be teamed with someone that's basically a rookie."

"Kaitlyn and Justin Gabriel seemed okay with being partners, too. Rosa seemed far happier about teaming with Alberto than he did about teaming with her," the redhead mused, and Triple H snorted.

"He's probably seen her in the ring," the blonde man said, then shrugged. "And Punk seemed happy to be teaming with Eve."

Lita nodded slightly. "About that... When he kissed Eve's hand-"

"Which was totally over-the-top... and probably his way of mocking Del Rio or something," Triple H interrupted, and Lita rolled her eyes.

"Whatever... But as I was saying, when he did that... He looked over at Cena. Just for a second, but... It kind of gave me the feeling that maybe CM Punk knew that John wanted to team up with Eve, and he was kind of rubbing it in Cena's face that he got to team up with her instead," the redhead stated, frowning slightly at that. She really didn't know Eve; the brunette hadn't won the diva search until almost a year after Lita had retired, but from what she'd seen, Eve seemed nice enough. Possibly nicer than about eighty percent of the rest of the divas.

Triple H nodded slightly. "So you think that Cena wanted to team up with Eve, that Punk knew about it, and that Punk is planning to taunt Cena about the fact that Eve's teaming with him while Cena's teamed with Kelly?" the man said, and Lita nodded.

"That's a pretty good summary of what I just said," she told him, and the big man grinned.

"Oh, that's too good. That's too damn funny. If you're right, you just know those two are going to try and one-up each other somehow," the Game said, and Lita arched a brow at him.

"And if Eve somehow gets stuck in the middle or caught in the crossfire?" the woman asked, and Triple H made a face.

"Oh, yeah. Right. Poor Eve."

"My thoughts exactly."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to those that have reviewed so far; I really appreciate it.

Part Ten

Eve made her way through the backstage area at CM Punk's side, the diva fidgeting with the bracelet she wore, a nervous habit that she wasn't really aware of. The truth was, there had been a time when she and Punk had been friends of sorts, but that had been a few years ago, and in the past couple of years, she hadn't spent any time with him at all. He hadn't seemed bothered by the fact that they were going to be partners, but then again, he had made the decision to sign up for the intergender tag team division. Obviously he was willing to team up with a diva, and he had to figure that there were worse choices than her. He could have ended up with Rosa Mendes or something. Even so, Eve had to admit that the idea of teaming with CM Punk was a little weird to her... and on top of that, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on here. That the way he'd kissed the back of her hand - which had definitely been weird - had been some sort of show. She just didn't know who it had been for. Shaking her head slightly, Eve heaved out a sigh, the diva starting to turn a corner, stopping short when CM Punk reached out and took hold of her arm. His touch wasn't harsh or anything, it didn't hurt, but it was firm enough to bring her to a stop, the woman turning around to face him, lifting her brows in question.

"You ever going to talk to me?" he wanted to know, and Eve's questioning look didn't change.

"You're not exactly talking to me, either," she reminded him, and he sighed, jerking a hand through his hair.

"Look, if you're pissed about teaming with me-"

"Whoever said I wasn't okay with teaming with you?" she shot back, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him. "I never said I wasn't fine with teaming with you. I mean, look at some of the guys out there. I could have ended up with a total asshole like Del Rio or Otunga or the Miz. Instead, I got you, and from what I've seen... You're only an asshole part of the time," she told him, and while Punk tried to look annoyed at her assessment of him being at least a partial asshole, he ruined it by smiling, the man letting out a soft laugh and shaking his head.

"I guess you've got a point there," he said, and Eve gave him a look, the diva crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at him.

"I *know* I've got a point. What I don't get is why you would just assume that I'm not okay with teaming up with you. Do you care to explain, or...?"

He shrugged as she trailed off. "I just figured you would probably want to team with someone like Cena," he finally said, and Eve got the feeling that he was watching her very carefully as he said that, though she had no idea why. She decided, for once, to just go ahead and chalk it up to CM Punk being weird... Because there was no way in hell the guy had some kind of inferiority complex about Cena; Punk had actually beaten John at the last two pay per views.

"Honestly? I didn't even know that John had signed up to be a part of this division until tonight. Would I have been okay teaming with him? Yeah. So? He's my friend. But it's not like I was just dying to team with him."

"So when you signed up, you didn't think to yourself... 'oh, how great would it be to team with Cena'?"

"How could I? I told you, I didn't know he'd signed up until tonight. When I signed up, I had no idea who else was even going to be in the division," she said, and he frowned.

"You hadn't heard any rumors?" Punk questioned, and Eve shrugged.

"No. How could I? According to Lita, I was the first person to sign up," she told him, and he blinked in surprise.

"You were?"

"That's what she told me. Evan Bourne came in when I was there, so I knew he was signing up, and to be honest, I wouldn't have been bothered in the least if he'd been the one I ended up teamed up with," Eve said.

"You signed up without having any idea..."

"Didn't you do the same thing?"

"Yeah, but there were a lot more possibilities for who the divas would get stuck with than there were the guys. Only a dozen divas are actively wrestling right now. There are a lot more guys than that on the roster," he said, and Eve shrugged.

"Didn't change anything. Not really. I was still going to sign up. I wanted this chance. It's a chance at a title. To be half of the first ever team to be the intergender tag champs. It means something to me," she told him, then sighed. "I never got my rematch."

He frowned. "Excuse me?"

"For the divas' title. I never got it. I lost the title to Brie because they tried to make the switch, and when the referee was forcing Nikki back out of the ring, Brie got me with a sneak attack. Because Nikki was caught before there was anything physical, Brie wasn't disqualified. So I lost the title. And I never got a damned rematch... And part of me is happy for Kelly. I am. She's been in the company longer than I have, and this is her first divas' championship. Her first title ever. So I should be happy for her. But I'm still pissed off that I never got my rematch," Eve told him, her voice low and even.

"You have every right to be."

"I'm so glad you think so," she tossed back, her tone more than a little sarcastic, the diva shaking her head and lifting a hand when he went to say something back. "Uncalled for. I know. Sorry."

"Don't be. You have every right to be pissed. Especially if Kelly is carrying that title everywhere she goes and practically shoving it in your face. Although I have to wonder why you put up with her."

"Because every other woman in the company that I ever considered a friend either went bitch or got released. Beth, Natalya, the Bellas all have it in for me... Gail, Mickie, and Maria are all gone. It's hard to let go of the one person that hasn't turned against you," she said, averting her gaze as she spoke, then turning her head again and looking Punk in the eye. "But I'm not going to just sit back and let her have what she wants, either. She thinks she's going to be the first diva to hold two titles at once. Maybe she will... Someday. But I'm not planning to let that happen right now. I want those intergender tag team titles," she told him, and Punk nodded his head.

"Good. Because so do I."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks so those that have reviewed so far.

Part Eleven

Lita reached for the doorknob to the office, the woman half-expecting to find someone - like Beth Phoenix - in there to complain about who they were partnered with for the new intergender division, but while someone was inside the office, it wasn't Beth Phoenix.

It was Randy Orton.

The former diva stopped short at the side of the man, then stumbled forward slightly as Triple H, not realizing she'd stopped, more or less walked right into her. He immediately reached out to steady her, starting to say something, then stopping himself when he looked beyond her into the room and saw Orton seated on the couch. A quick glance over her shoulder told Lita that the man now had a smirk on his face.

"I, uh... Just remembered. I have the rest of the show to run," the Game said before turning on his heel and walking out, not giving them a chance to protest his exit... Of course, Orton wasn't likely to try to stop him from leaving anyway. Lita... Well, she wasn't so sure. She hadn't spoken to Randy in a week, not since he'd shown up and asked her if she was willing to give them a chance this time. She hadn't known what to say to him then, and she still wasn't sure what to say to him now.

"Well, I guess I can clear a room. Or at least make Triple H leave. Which, given my past with the guy... Not that a bad a talent, actually," Randy said in a musing tone as he leaned back against the cushions of the couch. He didn't actually have a match on RAW tonight, so he hadn't been required to be here at all, especially since he was technically on the SmackDown roster... But somehow, she wasn't surprised that he'd shown up anyway. Even so...

"What are you doing here? You're not scheduled to compete," the woman said as she stepped further into the room and closed the door behind her. Orton shrugged, stretching his arm out along the back of the couch, as he looked at her.

"Maybe not, but you know me. I like to piss people off. I could always pick a fight." He glanced at the door. "Have to say that you might have unintentionally picked a fight with Beth Phoenix." He smirked. "Was Santino Marella really her randomly chosen partner?"

"Her partner was chosen as randomly as everyone else's was. Personally, I kind of feel sorry for Santino," Lita said as she made her way across the office, glancing for a moment at the couch before instead seating herself in one of the chairs in the room. Randy smiled slightly at her actions, though he didn't say anything about them, instead focusing on the conversation they were already having.

"Yeah. Santino's a nut, but still... Kind of feel sorry for him, given their history. Beth's a good wrestler, but she's also a bitch with an ego the size of Montana. If she can't suck it up and try to get along with her ex, then they may not do too well in that tournament." The man shrugged. "The others mostly seemed okay with who they were teamed with. Or, at least they didn't throw a fit."

"I think there's potential for some good teams, actually. Kelly certainly seemed excited to be teaming with Cena," the redhead said, watching as Randy's smirk grew, the man looking like he was trying to hold back a laugh. Arching a brow, she gave him a look. "You know something, don't you?"

"I know a lot of somethings, actually. It just depends on what you're referring to this time around," the man said, and Lita rolled her eyes.

"Well, when I mentioned Cena and Kelly teaming up, you tried not to laugh. Obviously something is going on there-"

"Not between Kelly and John, no. John has no interest in Kelly that I know of," Orton said, and Lita nodded.

"I kind of figured that. Kelly looked excited to be teaming up with Cena, but he only looked like he was trying to appear excited about teaming with her. He did, however, look more than a little disappointed when I announced that Eve's partner is going to be CM Punk. So I'm guessing there's something there. At least on Cena's side. Eve didn't look like teaming up with Punk bothered her."

Randy gave a slight nod, remaining silent for a moment, and then he shrugged his shoulders and spoke. "You're far too observant sometimes."

"I've been told that before."

"How many others do you think noticed that John was disappointed not to be teaming with Eve?" the man known as the Viper asked, and Lita shrugged.

"I don't know. Depends on how many people were paying attention. Kelly certainly didn't seem to notice. She was too busy being thrilled that she gets to team with Cena to notice that the feeling wasn't exactly mutual." Lita pressed her lips together, then continued to speak. "So Cena has a crush on Eve."

"If you want to call it that. It sounds so high school-"

"Cena acts so high school sometimes, so..." She shrugged. "How much does CM Punk know? And how does he know? He and Cena aren't exactly buddies."

"Well, I kind of told him." At Lita's incredulous look, he shrugged. "Punk came by to tell us about our match last week - and give us some shit while he was at it - and he heard us talking about the division. I kind of made it clear that there was a particular diva that John wanted to team up with. Punk's guess was that it was Kelly. Honestly, Cena's the one that clued him into the fact that it's really Eve... Accidentally, but yeah. That one's on Cena. Of course, the fact that Cena got teamed up with the chick Punk guessed John had a crush on and Punk got teamed up with the real crush? Kind of funny. I'm sure Punk found it amusing."

Lita shook her head ruefully, thinking about what she knew of CM Punk. "You're probably right about that. Still not sure why you clued him into the fact that John Cena has the hots for one of the divas."

Orton shrugged, shifting the way he was sitting, leaning forward a bit and resting his elbows on his knees. "Well, the truth is, John sort of let it slip that the reason I wasn't joining the intergender division was because I had more of an interest in the person running in than I did any of the competitors." He smiled slightly as Lita sat back in her chair at his words. "You ever going to answer the question I asked to last week?"

Lita sat back a little further in her seat as she thought about the question he'd asked... Whether she was ready to finally give the two of them a chance. After a moment, she met his eyes. "Maybe I'll answer it next week."


	12. Chapter 12

disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Twelve

Eve made her way toward the locker room that all the women shared, the diva not sure if she felt better or worse after everything she'd said to CM Punk. It was good to know that Punk was apparently taking the new intergender division seriously and wanted to win the belts, but she wasn't quite sure how she felt about the fact that she'd told the man her thoughts on Kelly's title reign and the fact that she herself had never gotten a rematch for the title after she'd lost it to Brie Bella.

Shaking her head slightly, Eve pushed the door to the locker room open and stepped inside, not too surprised by the chaos that she found inside. After all, every diva from both rosters was at RAW tonight to find out who their partners would be, so the locker room was a lot more crowded than it usually was.

"Are you nervous? Because I'm kind of nervous," a voice next to her said, and Eve looked over to find AJ Lee standing there, the younger diva looking up at her with wide eyes. And while Eve didn't know AJ very well, she had teamed up with her once when she'd visited FCW a year or so before, and she liked the younger woman. She also figured that the reason AJ was talking to her and not to her best friend Kaitlyn was because Eve had seen the other woman in the hallway just moments before... Kaitlyn had seemed to be flirting with her new tag team partner Justin Gabriel at the time. Not that Justin had seemed to mind.

"I haven't decided yet," Eve replied after a moment, the diva shrugging her shoulders. The truth was, her feelings were a bit of a mixed bag at the moment... Excited over the chance to compete for another title belt, glad she got a partner that she knew was great in the ring, a bit nervous about teaming up with CM Punk, a guy that was likely to tell a person exactly what he thought of them, even if it was a bit mean.

"Well, I am. I mean, I talked to Ted for a few minutes, and he seemed really nice-"

"He's a loser. Which means he's the perfect guy to team up with a scrawny little nobody like you," another voice said, this one with a French accent, and Eve knew without turning around to look that the person that had decided to join the conversation uninvited was none other than Maryse. While AJ seemed to wilt a little at the blonde's nasty tone, Eve simply turned to glare at her.

"First of all... You haven't done jack since I beat you for the title in the spring of 2010, which was... Oh, let's see... A year and a half ago now. And while being around you may have hurt Ted's career for awhile, I seem to remember a time when he was main eventing pay per views as part of Legacy. Not to mention the fact that he's a former tag team champion, so at least we know he can work with a partner... Unlike you, who isn't happy unless everyone is kissing your ass. And something tells me that Alex Riley isn't interested in being your lackey," Eve declared, taking a few steps closer to Maryse as she spoke, the woman almost ending up nose to nose with the bitchy blonde. For her part, Maryse looked a little startled by the fact that she was actually being stood up to. Maryse had probably decided to pick on AJ both because of the younger diva being paired up with Ted for the intergender tournament and because AJ happened to be the smallest diva in the company. She hadn't expected someone else - someone that wasn't about to take her shit - to stand up to her.

After a few moments, Maryse stepped back, giving Eve a derisive look. "And speaking of losers-"

"We both know I can kick your ass, so don't even start with me."

"Oh, please-"

"I won the title from you, retained against you, and in case you forgot... have beaten you repeatedly over the past year and a half. For every win you've got against me, I've probably got three against you. So, if I'm such a loser... What, exactly, does that say about you?" she wanted to know, and while Maryse looked more than a little uncomfortable at this turn of events, it was someone behind Eve that responded.

"Come on, Eve, you know that's not nice. You know that if you use logic against Maryse, you'll just confuse her," the decidedly male voice said, and the brunette whipped around to find that CM Punk was standing in the doorway to the divas' locker room with a smirk on his face. Wide-eyed, the diva took a few steps toward her tag team partner, her hands coming up to rest on her hips as she looked at him.

"What are you doing in here? This is the *divas'* locker room! You can't just walk in here-"

"I didn't," he interrupted her. "I totally knocked, I swear. One of the Doublemint twins let me in-"

"It's Bella twins, and my name is Nikki," the haughty brunette called out, and CM Punk rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, like I care. The point is, I did knock. And I was let in. So now I'm here," he told her, and Eve arched a brow at him, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the man, who looked totally relaxed as he stood there, not at all caring that there were probably several divas that wanted to throw heavy objects at his head for daring to come into their locker room... Even if he had knocked and had the door opened for him by one of the Bellas.

"Obviously... But that begs the question... Why are you here?" Eve asked, and he shrugged.

"Well, I kind of thought that, since all the divas are here tonight, that the women's locker room might be a little overcrowded," Punk told her, the man glancing around the room as he spoke. "Apparently, I was right."

"And your point?"

"Well, I figured... Since you're my tag team partner and all, it wouldn't hurt for you to hang out in my locker room tonight," he said, then looked over at Maryse and smirked. "Unless, of course, you prefer spending your time with uppity brats with more boobs than brains-"

Maryse practically snarled at him. "How dare you-"

"Easy. I open my mouth and talk. Also, if you decide to attack me, I'm sure Eve would protect me. Well, maybe," he said, then let his gaze go back to his tag team partner. "So... What do you say? You want to hang out in here, or with me?"

Eve took one glance around the locker room, then went over to the locker she'd claimed earlier that evening and grabbed her stuff before heading back over toward Punk. "Lead the way," she said and he nodded, then glanced at the rest of the divas.

"Ladies... and whatever the rest of you are. See you later."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Thirteen

Lita looked up at the sound of the door opening, the woman half-expecting it to be Randy Orton to return to ask her more questions she wasn't quite sure of the answer of. It wasn't him. Instead, it was Triple H, the acting COO of the WWE looking around for a moment as if checking for an ambush - or just other people - before stepping into the room.

"I see your visitor has left," the big man said, and the former diva shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, either that, or he's hiding and waiting to attack you," she countered, then smirked when Triple H gave the room a suspicious look. "You know, despite the problems the two of you have had in the past, I think Randy has moved beyond trying to ambush you in an office or something. Bigger things to worry about and all of that."

Triple H snorted. "Guess you're right. Seems like he has an excessive interest in the person running the intergender division, though. Especially since he didn't enter the division himself. Best of my knowledge, his name wasn't even in the list of possible participants when it came to the men," the Game said, and Lita shook her head slightly.

"No, it wasn't. He chose not to take part in the division," she said, drawing a sly smile from Triple H.

"Well, I wonder why that could be," he drawled. Lita gave him an innocent look.

"I have no idea."

"I'm sure you don't," Triple H said, then made his way over and plopped down on the couch, apparently not caring that he was probably wrinkling his suit like crazy by the way he'd sprawled out on the leather piece of furniture. He sent a look Lita's way. "He giving you problems?" the man wanted to know, surprising Lita with the fact that he actually sounded somewhat concerned, which was definitely not something she was used to when it came to the man known as the Cerebral Assassin. Their past with each other wasn't exactly stellar - in fact, it was exactly the opposite - but the truth was, since he'd come to her about becoming the head of the intergender division, he'd been nothing but nice to her. Okay, yeah, maybe he liked to pick at her a bit, tease her and all, but that had more of a big brother type feel to it than anything malicious.

The redhead arched a brow at the man. "Why do you ask? You going to give him the pedigree if I say he is?" she questioned, more out of curiosity than anything else. Triple H smirked at her words.

"I can't say that I would mind it," the man said, then rolled his eyes. "Although, for some reason, I don't think the crowd would love me for it like they used to. Not really sure as to why."

"The crowd does love him these days," Lita allowed, and that was definitely true. It was a far cry from the days when she'd been around and everyone had loved to hate him. Now? They just seemed to love him. And the truth was, in Lita's eyes, Randy really hadn't changed all that much. The biggest difference was that he'd gone from the pack mentality to being a loner. Not that he could really be blamed for that. After all, he'd been kicked out of Evolution when he was twenty-four, Rated RKO had imploded shortly after Lita had retired, and Legacy had ended with Randy facing both DiBiase and Rhodes in a triple threat match that may as well have been a handicap match at WrestleMania in 2010.

Triple H made a face. "Yeah... I really don't get that. The guy's still a dick-"

"Oh, please. Like that isn't at least partially your fault," Lita tossed back at him, then arched a brow when Triple H gave her a disbelieving look.

"How is it my fault?"

"Um... Evolution. You might remember that group. You, Flair, Batista, Orton. You got pissy when Orton won the title at SummerSlam, demanded he hand the title over to you, threw him out of Evolution and so on and so forth... And you wonder why the guy spent years hating your ass," Lita said, shaking her head, and Triple H rolled his eyes.

"I've done worse to others-"

"I'm sure you have. Of course, you and the rest of Evolution beat Randy to a bloody pulp like the night after he won the title or something and became the youngest world champion ever, but whatever. That right there? Is when the two of you started hating each other, and it just kept going from there. Sometimes you were the asshole, sometimes he was. And don't try to claim you were never the asshole, because we both know damn good and well that you were," Lita told him, and Triple H made a face at her, grumbling under his breath, though he didn't deny what she'd said. Probably because, whether he liked it or not, he realized that she did have a point there. After a moment, he shook his head, pushing that conversation away, at least for now, instead turning his attention elsewhere.

"So... The new division. You think it will be ready to start on Monday?" he asked, and Lita shrugged.

"If we want to crown the first champions by the end of the year, we better get it started," the redhead stated. "I mean, once we get it down to eight teams and into a single-elimination tournament to get the first title holders, it won't take long. We could have it done in a couple of weeks. It's the preliminary rounds to determine what eight teams end up in the final tournament that will take awhile, even with it being on RAW and SmackDown. I mean, you want them to be in enough matches to actually evaluate their records, right?"

He nodded. "I was thinking five matches per team."

"Well, with twelve teams, that means six matches per preliminary round. To get them all five matches, we'd have to have five preliminary rounds. That's thirty matches total. If we have two matches per show on RAW and SmackDown, it would still take the better of two months to get the preliminaries done. After that, we'd still have to have the actual eight-team tournament," Lita said, watching as Triple H pulled out his phone - possibly an iPhone, she wasn't sure - and began looking at something. "What?"

"Just checking a calendar. What you're saying... Two months of prelims, plus the tournament... Well, it could mean some people have to wrestle two matches that night, but... I found a great place for the final match to fall," Triple H said, and Lita arched a brow, looking at him.

"Oh, yeah? And what place would that be?"

"At Survivor Series."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to those still reading this one.

Part Fourteen

They made their way through the hallway side by side, neither one speaking for the moment, though Eve's mouth dropped open when CM Punk reached over and took her bag from her. Her first instinct was to hold onto her gear and not let him take it, but she forced herself to relent, the diva glancing over at him and trying not to act too surprised by his actions... Though she was sure he'd seen her mouth drop open, which meant he was probably very aware that she hadn't expected him to carry her bag for her.

"I can take it myself, you know," she said quietly, and he gave her a look that was more amused than anything else.

"I'm sure you can," he said, then slanted a look her way. "What? You think I can't be a gentleman?"

Eve gave him a slight smile. "I'm sure you can," the diva said, echoing his words from just seconds before. "But that doesn't make it any less unsettling," she finished, and he actually laughed at that.

"Good. That's good. I was worried for a minute," CM Punk said, not elaborating on what he meant, and Eve's brow furrowed a bit as she looked over at him.

"What do you mean?"

"How you'd act around me. I mean, I know we were talking before and everything seemed okay, but... Some of the women in the company look at me like I'm a crazy cult leader or something," he said, and Eve couldn't help it; she laughed.

"Um... Straight Edge Society. New Nexus. You kind of were a crazy cult leader. But don't worry. I have a strong mind. I won't be susceptible to your crazy cult leader magic," Eve informed him, and he looked over at her with a grin.

"First of all: I am not a crazy cult leader. All of that was just a social experiment, and in case you're wondering, I won."

"You don't 'win' when you're doing an experiment," Eve said, and he gave her a look.

"Trust me, I won. And just so you know? Me and you teaming up? I think this really is going to work. I was a little worried because you always seemed so nice. Except that time you called Miz names in the middle of the ring. That was great and not really a nice-girl thing. Also, I really wished that you'd been able to actually reach over the top of that plexiglas cage Cole had for himself so you could have actually slapped him. Or, you know, choked him by his tie. But mostly you just seem like the cheerful nice girl, but now I'm seeing you have the ability to be sarcastic, so... Yeah. And now I'm rambling," he said, then gestured toward the locker room door. "And here we are. Well, my locker room, technically, but ours now. Maybe next week I can get them to put your name on the door under mine. Maybe in sparkly pink letters-"

"Sparkly pink letters? Please. You're teaming with me, not with Kelly," she told him, and he looked over at her with wide eyes.

"Am I really?" He looked her up and down. "Yeah, I guess you're not Kelly. And honestly? I'm very glad about that. Because I think she would look at me like I was a crazy cult leader," Punk said as he led Eve into the locker room, depositing her things on the bench next to his own before sitting down. He turned his head to find Eve looking at him. "What?"

"I really don't know," she said, then sighed. "I guess part of me is wondering why you came to get me. I know you said it was because you figured the divas' locker room would be overcrowded-"

"Which it was," he said, and though Eve nodded an agreement to that, the diva still continued with her thought.

"But really... I can't help but wonder if that was the whole truth. Maybe you just wanted to see the divas' locker room."

"I have to admit I was curious as to whether any of the divas have catfights in their underwear-"

"That really hasn't happened since girls like Maria and Candice left," Eve informed him, making her way over to sit next to him on the bench. "But really... What gives?"

He shrugged. "Figured the company wouldn't be bad to have. I saw that you don't have a match tonight. Thought maybe you could walk me out for mine. Next time you have a match, I could return the favor. If you want. Kind of make us look like a team," he said, and Eve nodded.

"Makes sense. And yeah... I'll walk out with you tonight."

"Cool. And you know, if we really wanted to look like a team... You could get a version of your ring gear with, like, stars on the belt or something," he said, and Eve rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah. Not gonna happen."

"It was worth a try," he said, stretching out his legs in front of him. He already had his wrestling boots on, which Eve figured meant that his wrestling gear was under the baggy sweats - sweats that were cut off just below the knee - that he wore. "So... What do you think about the other teams?"

"Hard to say so far. We don't know how they'll work together. That's what it will come down to... That and which team member ends up in the ring. I mean... Beth is formidable, of course. Obviously. And Santino... is Santino."

"And on the flipside... Del Rio is dangerous. Rosa? Not so much. And even though Kelly's the divas' champion, I know you could take her. I figure that me and Cena? It could go either way. Evan's quick, but Natalya's strong. If those two get along, they could be a decent team. Do some interesting stuff," he said, and Eve nodded.

"Then there's Maryse and Alex. Honestly, she hasn't done too much since she lost the divas' championship to me, and that was almost a year and a half ago. Alex Riley is a rookie without a lot of experience, so... he's kind of hard to judge because we haven't seen too much of him. When he was following Miz around, he didn't wrestle much," the diva stated. "I think, if they work well as a team, Brie and Morrison could be tough. Nikki and Miz will try to cheat constantly-"

"Which isn't new for either of them," Punk said with a slight smile. "What about AJ and Ted?"

"Well, I can tell you she's a little nervous. But from what I've seen... She's good. Tiny, though. Power moves could take her down, but I'd have to make sure not to underestimate her. Ted's got experience working in a tag team, whether it was as a member of Legacy or teaming up with Maryse on occasion," Eve said, and Punk nodded at that, but before he could continue their rundown of what they thought about the other teams, there was a knock on the door... The door opening before either of them could say a word, and John Cena stepped inside.

"Dude, we're teaming tonight, so-" Cena broke off as he realized that Punk wasn't alone in the room, his eyes narrowing as he realized that, despite the size of the bench, Eve and CM Punk were sitting very close to each other, close enough that their legs were touching. "I didn't mean to interrupt," John Cena said, and CM Punk smirked at him.

"Don't worry, man. You're not interrupting anything. We decided the locker room was too dirty to have sex in," he said cheerfully, enjoying the look on Cena's face at his words.

For her part, Eve elbowed Punk in the gut for his remark. Punk kept grinning.

Cena just glared.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to everyone that's reviewed/followed/favorited this one.

* * *

Part Fifteen

Eve sat quietly on the bench in CM Punk's locker room, the diva all too aware of the tension that was in the room. Tension that had been there ever since John Cena had come in and announced that he and Punk were teaming that night. She knew, of course, that Punk and Cena had faced each other at the last two pay per views, with CM Punk winning on both occasions. Punk had walked out of the pay per view - and briefly walked out of the WWE - with the title at Money in the Bank. The two men had also faced one another at SummerSlam, with CM Punk winning the match but not walking out with the title thanks to an attack by Kevin Nash that had allowed Alberto Del Rio the perfect opportunity to cash in the money in the bank briefcase the man had earned in July. And while Punk and Cena didn't seem to hate each other, it wasn't like the men were exactly friends. That, of course, was more than enough reason for there to be some tension in the room. Add to that the fact that they were facing Del Rio and the Miz tonight, two men that neither John nor Punk liked, and well... That could lead to some tension to. But, for some reason, Eve felt there was more to it than just who they were facing and the battles that the men had recently had over the WWE title. There was something else going on here, and she just didn't know what it was. It kind of made her feel uncomfortable, kind of made her consider offering to go back to the divas' locker room, but something kept her from doing that. And it wasn't just the fact that Punk had stashed her things in the locker next to his, making it clear he expected her to stick around.

"Eve's walking out with us tonight." CM Punk said the words suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room, and Cena actually jerked slightly at the words, looking like he'd been surprised out of his thoughts.

"Excuse me?"

"Eve doesn't have a match tonight, so I asked her to walk me out for mine. Well, ours, I guess. She agreed," the Chicago native stated, and Cena scowled briefly in a way that made Eve feel entirely unwelcome before the man schooled his expression back to neutral.

"Shouldn't you have cleared that with me first?"

"Why? Because I'm stuck tagging with you tonight? Eve's my tag team partner in the intergender tournament. She's my teammate. Just like Kofi and Evan are teammates. If you were teaming up with Evan for some reason, you wouldn't be surprised if Kofi was out there, would you?" Punk wanted to know. "It's the same thing. Eve's my partner as much as Kofi is Evan's partner. In fact, since Evan's both in the men's tag team division and the intergender one, he could have both Natalya and Kofi out there for him." Punk paused, then smirked slightly, looking at Cena. "You're welcome to have Kelly come out there and be at ringside as well. In fact, if you think about it... Ringside could be very crowded tonight. Del Rio will obviously have Rodriguez out there, since he's his personal ring announcer, but Del Rio's tagging with Rosa in the intergender tournament. Miz is teamed with one of the Doublemint twins."

Eve rolled her eyes, the diva speaking up for the first time since Cena had entered the room, the woman drawing the attention of both of the men. "It's Nikki. Miz is teamed with Nikki. Brie is teamed up with John Morrison in the intergender tournament."

"Wonder if both of them will try to walk out tonight," Punk muttered. "Of course, that would require Miz to ask Nikki to walk him out in the first place. I doubt he has. I doubt Del Rio would ask Rosa to walk him out, either." He glanced over at Eve, apparently preferring to ignore Cena for the moment. "You know, the twins could be trouble in the tournament. If they make some sort of pact to try and make sure they face each other in the finals, then try to do the twin magic thing-"

"Lita's not going to allow that," Eve replied, pushing her hair back from her face. She could feel Cena's eyes on her as she spoke - the man was practically staring at her - but she kept her focus on her tag team partner. "It was the talk of the divas' locker room last week. Lita really put her foot down. At least in terms of the intergender division, anyway, since that's what Lita is in charge of. If one has a match, the other can't wear matching ring gear. She'd have to wear street clothes out there. And if Nikki's out there and Brie didn't walk her out or whatever... They'd check under the ring. Lita's going to do her best to make sure there is no twin magic going on. Of course, apparently, at first, only one of them was going to sign up for the division."

"Meaning they were planning to 'twin magic' themselves up to the intergender tag titles. Or at least try," Punk said, and the diva nodded.

"Probably so. Of course, that was just when they went to sign up. All the gossip I heard - mostly them complaining - means that Lita tried to bring that to a screeching halt and, now that they're both in the division... Well, I don't see the Miz taking too kindly to Nikki trying to help out Brie and John Morrison or JoMo taking too kindly to Brie trying to help Nikki and Miz. I mean, those two guys can't stand each other."

"You have a point there," Punk said, and Cena cleared his throat.

"If you two are done-"

"If you don't like the conversation, you can leave," Punk told the older man, turning to look at him. "Hey, maybe you could go and talk strategy with your new tag team partner. You know, Kelly. The skinny blonde that was just so excited to be teaming up with you."

Cena glared at the younger man, and Eve shifted uncomfortably on the bench she was still seated on. It was obvious from John's expression that he wasn't thrilled to be teaming with Kelly. Which, yeah, okay, Kelly could be kind of immature and she could say things that were eye-roll inducing but... He could have been stuck with people that were a lot worse than Kelly. Like Rosa. Or Maryse. Or one of the bratty Bella twins. And maybe Beth was a great wrestler, but she was also a total bitch, and he could have gotten her as well. But whatever the case, John didn't seem happy about teaming with the divas' champion, and Punk was obviously aware of it and seemed to be enjoying poking at Cena about it.

Clearing her throat, Eve rose to her feet. "Maybe I should leave-"

"I asked you here. Just like I asked you to walk me out tonight. I want you here. If anyone should leave, it's Cena," Punk interrupted, moving over to stand next to her. "I'm not going to let him make my tag team partner think she needs to leave. So what will it be, Cena? Leave, or stay and behave?" he wanted to know, and Cena shot one last look at them before heading for the door.

"I'll meet you at the curtain."


End file.
